Foreign Banks in Shanghai

By Jian Shuo Wang on 2008-06-12 22:00 · Banks

Another email sent to me asked me about if there is any foreign bank in Shanghai. Well. There are. To be more exact, there are more than 100 foreign bank branches in Shanghai by the end of 2007, and there are about another 100 representative office in Shanghai.

Here is an incomplete list of the most popular foreign banks in Shanghai, with their location and phone number. Thanks for shme

to provide a great summary of the information.

The information below is given in the following format:

*Name of the bank branch

Address

Postal Code

Telephone (area code is +86-21)

Fax*

The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation, Shanghai Branch

F/5, 185 Yuanminyuan Road Shanghai Center

200002 200040 63218383 63291775 63291659

**Standard Chartered Bank, Shanghai Branch ** F/7, 1376 Nanjin Road (W) Shanghai Center 200040 62798823 62798813

Overseas-Chinese Banking Co. Ltd., Shanghai Branch 120 Jiujiang Road 200002 63233888 63218888 63290388

**The Bank of East Asia, Shanghai Branch ** 229 Sicuan Road 200002 63216863 63210434 63297338 63291813

The Sanwa Bank, Shanghai Branch 205 Maomin Road (S) Room 1501, Ruijin Building 200020 64728731 64728732 64726400

he Industrial Bank of Japan, Shanghai Branch 2200 Yanan (W) Room 1601, International Trade Center 200335 62751111 62751246 62751769

Citibank N.A., Shanghai Branch F/5 100 Yanan Road (E), Union Mansion 200002 63289661 63201988 63731317

Bank of American Shanghai Branch F/1 100 Yanan Road (E), Union Mansion 200002 63201491 63292828 63201297

Banque Indosuez, Shanghai Branch F/5 100 Yanan Road (E), Union Mansion 200002 63292228 63293279 63219002 63292911

Credit lyonnais, Shanghai Branch F/8 1376 Nanjin Road (W) Shanghai Center 200040 62798661 62798662

The Bank of Tokyo, Shanghai Branch F/12 205 Maomin Road (S), Ruijin Building 200020 64723166 64723199 64727540

The Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Shanghai Branch F/11 205 Maomin Road (S), Ruijin Building 200020 64723651 64623679 64727679

Sakura Bank, Shanghai Branch F/5 205 Maomin Road (S), Ruijin Building 200020 64723656 64720867

The International Bank of Paris and Shanghai 93 Guangdong Road 200002 63217518 63216968

Royal Bank of Canada, Shanghai Branch Room 403, 100 Yanan Road (E) 200002 63202823 63203623 63200417

**The Mitsubishi Bank, Shanghai Branch ** F/21 205 Maomin Road (S), Ruijin Building 200020 64726383 64720882 64723568

Abn, Amro Bank, Shanghai Branch Room 1803, Union Maosion 200002 63112268 63112267

**Dresdner Bank, Shanghai Branch ** 2099 Yanan Road (W) 200335 62755458 62191433 62755904

Po Sang Bank, Shanghai Branch F/1, 260 Yanan Road (E) 200002 63212377 63215277

**Bangkok Bank, Shanghai Branch ** Room 5013–5015, Huating Seralton Hotel 200030

64396000–5013 64813817

Anz, Shanghai Branch 201/A West, Hotel Equatorial Shanghai 200040 62488877 62480080

**The Daiwa Bank, Shanghai Branch ** Room 1903, International Trade Center 200335 62755198 62755229

**Chia Tai International Finance Co. Ltd. ** F/26 2200 Yanan Road (W), International Trade Center 200335 62753448 62752299

**Shanghai Associated Finance Co. Ltd. ** F/7 65 Yanan Road (W), Hotel Equatorial Shanghai 200040 62489828 62488248 62483798

Shanghai International Finance Co. Ltd. 1376 Nanjin Road (W) Room 420, Shanghai Center 200040 62798281 62798225

American International Assurance company, Shanghai Branch F/5 1376 Nanjin Rood (W), Shanghai Center 200040 62798568 62798569

**Commerz, Shanghai Branch ** F/7, Zhonghui Building, 16 Henan Road (S) 200002 63747680 63747681

More about Foreign Banks

Although most of the local banks also provide services to foreigners, and can provide most of the types of financial services, many foreigners still prefer to use the banks they trust or get used to. Among them, let me share my personal experience.

CITI Bank

I am a customer of CITI Bank. They are pretty good with more branches than any other banks (at least by what I know). I use their Xujiahui branch, and the Lujiazui branch often. Their service is pretty good, so far.

Bank of America

I am a customer of Bank of America in the States. When I went to their branch is in Shanghai, they said the account in the States and in China are separate, and the only way I can access my US account is to go to the States. What a surprise to me, but it is understandable. Do pay attention to the same kind of problems if you want to do the same.

10 Comments

Re: BoA

Actually this is quite weak, if not even outrageous! It's pretty much the opposite of what I consider great service.

18 months ago, I was looking for a way to withdraw RMB in China from my German EUR account for as little fees as possible. Among various tricky options, one would have been to open a Citibank account in Germany, from which I would have been able to withdraw RMB in China for free! Considering that both are large banks from the US, I would say: Clear victory for Citi!

— DB · 2008-06-12 23:30

Both Citi and Boa have the same policy with respect to US and China accounts, which is limited by both Chinese and US banking law. A foreign account-holder can use his or her ATM card to withdraw money without an ATM fee, but cannot otherwise access the accounts--no deposits. I believe the blog recently discussed the restrictions on currency exchange from a China perspective. Generally, there are no US restrictions, only reporting requirements for movements of large currency amounts.

— bryan · 2008-06-12 23:48

Well, cash withdrawal is arguably one way of "accessing" an account. I am unsure what JS meant when he wrote, the only way he could access his US account was to go to the States. I was just surprised and wanted to point out that not being able to offer cross-border withdrawal free of charge is not accessible nowadays. If BoA at least offers this single option of access, they are on par with the rest; otherwise they would be sub-standard.

— DB · 2008-06-13 00:08

Well, I am pretty sure JS meant some kind of more significant "access" than just withdrawing money using an ATM card. It's not BOA's fault, the yuan is not freely convertible and there are a lot of restrictions on moving funds into and out of China. It is a big pain for those of us who are foreign nationals living here. On the other hand, China has been largely insulated from the big financial crises of the last few decades (including the current one, so far) so there is a reason for it.

— ddjiii · 2008-06-13 00:56

Jianshuo,

You can check your BOA balance in RMB and withdraw RMB cash free of charge in ATMs at the China Construction Bank, of which BOA has 10% share. I have tried it and worked well.

— Ling · 2008-06-13 03:54

I plan to move to China in Feb. I can work from anywhere as long as I have my laptop. I will still be employed from the same company and can still work from China. I don't want checks mailed to me. Could I open an account in china at citi or boa and still have direct deposit into those accounts. Does anyone know if this is possible?

— James · 2008-09-08 17:00

@James, as far as I know, the bank account you create in CitiBank or Bank of America are seperate from your accounts in US. Your accounts here are subject to all the limitions in China. For example, I was not able to check balance of my Bank of America bank card in US in Shanghai. I hope this has been changed. Better to check with your bank first.

— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-09-08 23:34

hi guys,

does anyone here have an idea whether is possible to have a internship in thsi foreign banks in shanghai. am currently in shanghai and am magering in economics and politics. therefore, please do responde to my demand . thanks.

— mehdi · 2010-12-08 11:56

does anyone know if I can pay my BOA mastercard balance here in China?

— ekwah · 2011-12-20 17:42

I AM AN ESTATE AGENT IN EUROPE AND FROM TIME TO TIME I SEE CLIENTS FROM CHINA. THEIR ONLY CONCERN IS HOW THEY CAN TRANSFER THEIR MONEY FROM CHINA TO EUROPE AND ACQUIRE A PROPERTY. IS THIS POSSIBLE AND WHICH ARE THE PROCEDURES?

— MARINOS · 2012-05-09 18:22